Photo by Karolina Granda, Editor-in-Chief
By Karolina Granda, Editor-in-Chief
The event
On Monday, Oct. 13, 2025, Moraine Valley Community College hosted a ‘Women in Government Panel’ in Building M. The event began at 12:00 p.m. and featured Keynote speaker Toni Preckwinkle alongside panelists Nicole Milovich-Walters, Kelly Burke, and Patricia Joan Murphy (former MVCC Board Trustee) who discussed the topic of demystifying public service within your community and beyond. The event began by introducing its female speakers through their political titles.
Keynote speaker
Preckwinkle is the County Board President of Cook County. As County Board President, her duties consist of managing Cook County’s criminal justice system, education, work life, as well as any other societal concerns citizens may bring to her attention. As the first woman to take on this specific position, incumbent for her position, and the leader of the second most populous county, it is easy to label her attribution to local government as a success. But our real question lies in just how she got here. Where did Preckwinkle begin? Preckwinkle has always been an avid contributor to her community. To begin, her contributions started off on a smaller scale, as a high school history teacher. As she put it, she has always loved this subject, hence her decision to educate her students on its various aspects. Now that she takes on bigger and better things and her role as a teacher is history, she attributes a lot of her success to these beginnings. By being a teacher, she had the access necessary to reach out to members of her community and closely connect with the upcoming generation. Her past as a high school teacher is also definitive through her speaking manner. She is able to articulate her words in a way that are simple yet effective. She carries herself with the confidence necessary to inspire young women on their paths toward becoming tomorrow’s political figures and beyond.
Panelists
Next, we had the opportunity to meet the mayor of Palos Park, Nicole Milovich-Walters and the mayor of Evergreen Park, Kelly Burke. Milovich-Walters began her story on a lighthearted note telling us about how she always told her husband that it was her dream to take on a role in local government. When that role actually came up, her husband helped bring her dreams to reality by reminding her that this was what she always wanted. By having this extra ‘push’, Milovich-Walters succeeded in becoming Palos Park’s first female mayor. She continues to attribute a great amount of her success to her family, as she prioritizes dedicating time to her personal life outside of the time she dedicates to her community. As for Burke, she was recognized as being an active member of her community prior to being elected as mayor. Before becoming mayor, she contributed to the community of Evergreen Park through volunteer work, most notably for her work with the Most Holy Redeemer Parish. Alongside having the chance to hear from the mayors of our local communities, we also heard from panelist Patricia Joan Murphy. Murphy is the Worth Township supervisor, overseeing policies and community engagement. Her rise into politics is particularly special due to her mother’s presence in politics, causing her to be greatly involved since childhood. She proudly told the audience about her mother’s election into each of her offices, being the first woman elected to these positions. Her mother’s political involvement coincided with her own involvement as she assisted in various campaigns.
Greater purpose
As this event centralized around the concept of female roles in government, the stories of these administrative figures served as empowerment for the ways in which all women must find their voice in their government on local, state, and national levels. In the words of Burke, one does not necessarily have to create their own campaign or run for an executive position to effectively contribute to their community. One way in which citizens can be active members of their community – beyond the relatively obvious solution of filling out an election ballot – is truly building your education and interest regarding your government and the elected officials who serve. Another aspect was the importance of building awareness of what is happening in government on a local and state level, not just a national level. The panelists brought to attention the fact that young voters in particular tend to limit their political awareness to federal government. What many fail to recognize is that a lot of the changes we seek begin in our own city, as we have a much greater accessibility to communicate with administrative figures. An important idea that Preckwinkle mentioned is that it is not enough to merely vote for a candidate, but one should invest in them as well. As she put it, citizens are essentially ‘hiring’ candidates to voice and institute their own morals. Citizens have the ability to support their desired candidates through assisting in funding their campaigns, as this is what promotes their causes. Notably, there were also active members of government within the audience itself. The Leage of Women Voters of Illinois spoke out to promote their cause. Through their work, they aim to educate and engage voters, particularly the women of Illinois.
What we learned
Overall, this event was an important educational experience, beneficial to all of those involved. It provided a platform for the women, men, students, and future politicians by starting the conversation of what is taking place within our community. Moraine’s annual Women in Government panel provides feelings of empowerment and confidence for our young female community. Your engagement in your community has the ability to spark the changes we need to uplift society.
